Case Study - Falls Road Library, Belfast
Quick links:
- Introduction
- What was the reason for setting up the Thursday evening sessions?
- What has been successful in terms of encouraging dads to attend?
- What do you do in the sessions?
- What are the positive outcomes?
- Have there been any difficulties and how have these been addressed?
- Does the involvement of a male worker have a positive impact on dads attending the group?
- Partnership working
- What have been the key ingredients of success?
- Future development
Introduction
Anne Maxwell, branch manager, set up a Thursday evening session for Dads & Kids in September. Falls Road is a Carnegie Library due to celebrate it’s centenary in 2008. It is a landmark building on the Falls Road and regarded with a great deal of affection by local people, especially adults who remember using it as children. Nowadays there was a low level of family commitment in terms of bringing their children to the library on a regular basis. Afternoon and Saturday morning storytimes were poorly attended.
What was the reason for setting up the Thursday evening sessions?
The idea came at a Men’s Health Day at a local Sure Start centre which the library attended to promote Bookstart. The organiser of the health day suggested setting up a storytime session targeted at dads to be delivered as a partnership between the library and Sure Start. The library works closely with Sure Start who are a key partner in distributing Bookstart packs to families.
It was agreed that fathers would be invited personally to attend and that a Sure Start staff member would attend every session with the dads.
There is a strong policy emphasis in
the Sure Start objectives, on encouraging dads to become more involved
in parenting and in all aspects of their children’s lives.
What has been successful in terms of encouraging dads to attend?
Initially the group relied on personal invitation from Sure Start and library staff, but there was no pressure or ‘hard sell’. The involvement of Sure Start at the sessions has been pivotal in attracting and supporting parents who would never normally go to a library. All staff have worked hard to make the dads and children feel comfortable and to dispel preconceptions of libraries as stuffy places. Many fathers have been surprised to see how much libraries had changed since they were children. Refreshments are provided for the group and this generates a sociable and relaxed atmosphere. Gradually new members, including some of the regular library users, have started to join in and the group has grown in size.
The sessions have also been publicised through posters and word of mouth. and by using novel ways to attract more dads and children, for example a ‘Cat and the Hat’ 50th birthday party was held for Dr Seuss. On average there is a weekly attendance of 15 – 20.
On World Book Day there was an evening
news feature on the television about the group and this was a great
attraction for existing and potential members. It was a really good
opportunity for the dads and children to learn about the process of
making a news feature and talking to the film crew who were in the library
for about an hour. It boosted the the group’s profile and highlighted
the benefits of the group for the dads and the children. The group is
also part of the BBC RAW campaign parenting strand.
What do you do in the sessions?
Most libraries run storytime sessions and nothing different is offered on Thursday evenings. There has been no need for special training or extra resources. Library staff tell stories and mingle informally with the parents and children during the refreshment break. They offer advice on choosing suitable books for different age groups. Invariably the stories that have been told are favourites to borrow. Obviously the children have enjoyed the story and want to hear it again at home.
What are the positive outcomes?
- The partnership with Sure Start has brought dads and children into the library that would not normally use a library. The initial idea, the promotion and attendance by Sure Start staff has been crucial.
- Some of the dads had never been in a library before and initially were uncomfortable. As the weeks passed they became more at ease and began looking at books they were interested in or reading the newspaper. The sustained support offered to the dads has enabled the barriers to using the library and awkwardness of the dads to be broken down. This has been significant in terms of engaging long term involvement with the group and would not have been achieved with these dads by holding a ‘one off event’..
- Many of the local children have only attended the library with school. Some children who did come to the library posed behavioural difficulties for the staff. Library staff have noticed that children are less likely to behave badly now because the library staff are well known to them and to their dads.
- The library’s computerised management system shows that more children are using the library and are changing books more often.
- Initially fathers were attracted to the group because they thought it would be help their children. Increasingly fathers are thinking of their own needs too. It has become a good social time for fathers to meet together and they are developing positive relationships with the librarians and asking advice on which books to borrow for themselves.
- Building on the success of the Falls Road sessions Belfast Public Libraries has extended this initiative to a branch library in east Belfast with a similar community profile. The sessions in Ballymacarrett library are organised along the same model as Falls Road and after some initial teething problems are now proving equally successful. It is hoped to set up additional Dads & Kids evenings in 3 other branch libraries in September 2008.
- Some of the dads do not live with their children but collect them to bring them to the group. These fathers have said how much they value having somewhere relaxed and constructive to spend time with their children and one father said ‘ it’s so much better than having to go to MacDonalds’ with the children’.
- The Sure Start project in the Shanklill Road gave the children a disposable camera to take home and asked them to take photographs of children doing things with their dads. They produced a booklet of the photographs which showed fathers and their children doing homework, reading, gardening etc and each photo was accompanied buy a catchy caption. The photographs have been displayed in the Shankill library and have generated a lot of interest from parents and have helped promote positive messages about father’s engagement in their children’s lives.
Have there been any difficulties and how have these been addressed?
A second group was set up at Ballymacarrett
library which is also an area of high deprivation and low level parental
involvement in bringing children to the library.. In the early stages
of this group the Sure Start staff insisted on leading the sessions
and the group became rather closed and exclusive with the library staff
being sidelined. On occasions they would phone at short notice to say
they would not attend. These factors limited the potential for the group
to expand and include new members or existing library users but also
failed to maximise the potential of the involvement and skill of the
library staff. It was realised that in order for the group to be successful
there needed to be a genuine and equal partnership between Sure Start
and the library. The public library cannot exclude appropriate members
of the public from events in the library. This issue was quickly addressed
and through discussion an equal partnership and equal commitment has
been developed and the sessions are now operating successfully..
Does the involvement of a male worker have a positive impact on dads attending the group?
Falls Road library has a male member
of staff who is the storyteller most weeks and this is considered to
be an added bonus to the success of the group. Having a man to model
storytelling and talk informally to the dads has been a further factor
in breaking down barriers for the fathers. The library is keen to invite
guest male storytellers in the future and in fact had one last Thursday
13 June for a special Fathers Day storytime and craft session..
Partnership Working
The library works in close partnership with Sure Start.
During Family Learning Week in October events are held where children are encouraged to bring an adult to the library to show them round and bringing dads, granddads or other family members is encouraged. The adults are often amazed at the children’s knowledge and skill, for example, in using computers. These events also bring non traditional library users into the library and are an opportunity to show the adults the range of services that can be accessed there by all age groups and demonstrate how family friendly twenty first century libraries are. Falls Road library invites parents and children from a local primary school to participate in a quiz (parents versus children) during Family Learning Week. Ballyhackamore library also has a family quiz for local families on World Book Day. There is a class visit programme which facilitates school children visiting their local library at least once throughout the year. Branch library staff regularly visit playgroups and nurseries to tell stories and promote Bookstart Treasure Chests.
The library is involved with the BBC RaW Story Telling campaign which provides opportunities for parents to get more from reading, writing and story telling with their children and the Falls Road group have been featured on the RaW website. The Raw campaign provide free packs and a family guide to developing better reading and writing skills and will be running workshops with parents in Belfast as part of the parenting strand.
What have been the key ingredients of success?
It has been a breakthrough getting parents, and particularly dads, to come regularly to the libraries in the areas where the groups are running. The library staff believes that if it works in these libraries it can work anywhere. It is such a simple concept and the library staff are indebted to Sure Start for the original suggestion and continued support.
The success has been based on:
- Sound partnership working and building a genuine and equal approach and commitment,
- Targeting fathers directly. The library now realise that this has been crucial and that in the past the dads assumed publicity aimed at ‘parents’ meant mums or other female carers.
- Having a whole library approach and ensuring all staff understand the importance of the initiative and the part they play in contributing to its success. The staff are delighted to see parents coming into the library, are really welcoming to the dads and work hard to create a relaxed environment. Their commitment has built further as they realise the knock on benefits of the group visits.
- Timing is important and Thursday evening was chosen at Falls Road because it is a particularly quiet time in the library and staff would have more opportunity to engage with the group.
- Having the courage to try things and not be put off if they do not work first time or sessions are not well attended straight away.
Future Development
The library would benefit from a small amount of funding to pay for guest storytellers – particularly men. Liz Weir, a freelance storyteller, has become involved with the group and attended Ballymacarrett’s Easter session and will come again on Father’s Day. Her visits were funded by Sure Start. This generates interest and provides a greater variety of storytelling styles and strategies for the dads who attend. Guest storytellers should only be used occasionally as the real value of the sessions is that they are delivered by the librarians themselves. .This provides opportunities for them to get to know local families and opportunities for families to factor a weekly visit to the local library into their lifestyle. As well as stories there are craft sessions some weeks to celebrate seasonal events such as Hallow’een, Christmas, Easter, Fathers Day, Mothers Day.